I tried out the P800 in Singapore last week. While I was very impressed with the device, including the screen, I was disappointed to learn that it does not support (even viewing) the Symbian OS Word and Sheet formats. This lack of affinity between different Symbian OS flavours is becoming a real concern, especially for enterprise use.
[addsig]

langdona

25-06-2002, 08:28 AM

I agree that they should at least support viewing the format? I'm not sure why the Symbian Word & Spreadsheet are not included (probably the different screen format)?

However it would be nice if Symbian adopted XML for its file formats or at least supported it as an alternative file format. Open Office uses Zipped XML files (So the're small too). It would be nice if the world had a standard format for Word Procesing, Spreadsheets and other common document types /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif.<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by langdona on 2002-06-25 1142 ]</font>

Moka

25-06-2002, 09:56 AM

Hmmm. Intresting. What formats does it use for document creation?

In another way though it's good that SE are doing something different to Nokia. The Symbian file format doesnt mean anything ouside a Symbian OS device anyway - so no loss there. I mean you can't do anything with a Symbian Word file on a PC if you get one in an email - you can't even convert it to TXT or MS Doc! It's useless! (Same with the Symbian Contacts file...Outside of a Symbian OS device it's 'dead'.)

Yeah, HTML would have been a good format, but it's a bit CPU and memory demanding.

Just what tool kind of writing tool (Word Processor) does the P800 come with? Hopefully it's nothing like the 'Note' thing on the Nokia 9210 CD which can't even be converted! IMHO it was a big mistake not having plain text compatibility with the 9210's Word processor!

upponalle

25-06-2002, 06:12 PM

Hello!

I just went through the P800 white paper(it's from April & doesn't mention MP3 and MemoStick yet). It says that the P800 should have document viewers for MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint and Adobe Acrobat (PDF). Additional viewers (approx. 20) are on the supplied CD.
I don't know what these additional viewers are.
Additionally, it seems that there only is a jotter program (for text and ink notes), nothing else.

Regards from Finland,

Tilman
(who is tempted to switch his 9210 with a P800) /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Rafe

25-06-2002, 09:29 PM

As I understand it the P800 may well be able to open these formats, but not edit them.

Rafe

martinharnevie

26-06-2002, 11:20 AM

Well I did have an opportunity to speak directly with the product manager of the P800, and I asked him about the Word and Sheet formats since - as far as I am concerned - RTF, XML, CSV etc would be bad replacements, especially with regards to the Sheet application. The answer I got was that Sony Ericsson have not included them , but that they are strongly considering it for the future.

(With regards to RTF, I have been made aware that Symbian Word is essentially a UI wrapped around the CRichTextEditor, so this one should be easy).

As Symbian's position in the marketplace is growing stronger, we envision a future where enterprises choose Symbian OS as their strategic mobile platform and wish to 9200-type devices interchange business documents with P800-type devices, 7650-type devices and perhaps forthcoming (?) unicode versions of Netpads and Netbooks - all according to to tasks and personal preferences.
[addsig]

26-06-2002, 11:33 AM

does p800 have speakerphone?

30-06-2002, 07:58 AM

As far as I understand word files can only be viewed but not edited.
so there is no wordprocessing on the p800 at all?

considering wordsmith or others on palms or pocketword on ppcs, that might be a serious disadvantage of the p800.

just my opinion

03-07-2002, 12:43 PM

You have a Jotter application where you can enter text and draw small pictures.

There are no problems for a 3rd party to add-in a viewer for EPOC Word files if such need exist.

03-07-2002, 02:24 PM

jotter is no solution.

whats needed is a software which opens word docs, allows the user to edit and save again in doc format.

of cause rtf format will help too.

03-07-2002, 02:26 PM

jotter is no solution.

whats needed is a software which opens word docs, allows the user to edit and save again in doc format.

of cause rtf format will help too.

kullillo

05-07-2002, 02:48 PM

Previously in psion series5 with the Simbian previous version the Word documents can be published previous conversion, I also suppose that in this improved version it support
Best Regards
CanaryIslands

martinharnevie

06-07-2002, 01:28 AM

The Microsoft .doc format, and even more so the .rtf format, consumes a lot memory. A Symbian Word file takes about half the space of a the same content stored in .doc format. Furthermore, you can never trust the Microsoft formats. They are in a changing state all the time with backwards incompatibilities. And nowadays, Microsoft refuses to give any information about the formats post-Office97 which makes it very difficult to develop enterprise applications using those formats. The Symbian formats, on the other hand, have been made open.

In conclusion, Symbian Word format (a.k.a. EPOC Word) is to prefer for editing and default storage, but with the ability to import and export to the other formats including .doc, .rtf and .txt. The same goes for Symbian Sheet.
[addsig]

06-07-2002, 11:06 AM

Hi,

I have no problem with other file formats than MS word doc. Symbian word will be OK, as far as there is at least a very basic file conversion utility. At least there should be a simple ascii txt import and export.

But I think it is essential that there should be some wordprocessing at all. A simple jotter software will not be sufficient.

Handhelds have such wordprocessing capability. Think about wordsmith for palm or pocketword for ppcs. Without such software the p800 will not be an alternative to handpring's treo or those upcoming pps with buildin gprs phones.

You can also use this as a laptop for a short trip. If you have a Bluetooth keyboard, you can enter all the data you want -- there will be a whole range of peripherals to connect to this wirelessly. People will realise they can carry out work on this, particularly since you can edit documents like Word and Excel.

Bst Rgrds

Dazler

17-07-2002, 08:49 AM

Lol can you imagine sitting with a keyboard at least 10 times p800 it's sizes, typing away :) Would you be able to see good enough what you're typing? I think people who saw somebody typing away with nothing arround but a cell phone would call a docter on you ;)

You can also use this as a laptop for a short trip. If you have a Bluetooth keyboard, you can enter all the data you want -- there will be a whole range of peripherals to connect to this wirelessly. People will realise they can carry out work on this, particularly since you can edit documents like Word and Excel.

Bst Rgrds

IMHO it's _new_ that the p800 should be able to _edit_ Word and Excel documents. Could someone confirm this? Or just some uninformed words of a ignorant vice-president? I do hope he knew exactly what he said and it is true.

Rafe

17-07-2002, 04:22 PM

Yeah, bare in mind that article is quite old. I'll try and find out.

Rafe

Zuber

17-07-2002, 07:44 PM

"It's like having an office in your pocket: email, calendar, contacts, to do list, document viewers, web browser - the lot" - from sonyericsson site.

If they intended to include word processor and spreadsheet, they would probably have mentioned it. Unless that falls under "the lot" :)

Having said that, I'm sure the device is quite capable of it, just as the 9210 has the apps. Essentially the same software under the hood.

Not sure how willing 3rd parties would be to offer something. Especially as the development kit requires taking out a loan.